The hydrophone was deployed in Neah Bay during spring, 2008. The hydrophone is located near the end of the Pellet Plant dock just inside of the bay in about 6 meters of water. From this protected location we hope to be able to hear killer whales and other underwater sound sources without exposing the equipment to the high-energy wave environment outside the bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The hydrophones are connected to a computer which automatically detects unusual sounds (like orcas) and measures the average sound levels for the area using custom software written by Dr. Val Viers.

Archived Sounds from Neah Bay

You can use the above playlist to access all archived files. Click on the downward facing arrow to play a file.

If you'd like to try recording the streams when you hear something that interests you, we recommend Stream Ripper (free, open source, all platforms). If you'd like to explore underwater listening even further (including sound analysis and contributions to citizen science projects), then consider taking on a Beam Reach externship in bioacoustics.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to make your recording available to the listening community by having us publish it on this web site. In any case, please abide by the Creative Commons license.

Archived sounds are presented using a Flash-based player called Wimpy.